From the Chair...

Greetings to our alumni faculty, staff, trainees, and colleagues! 

In the following pages, I proudly present to you a review of the tremendous progress, accomplishments, and rewards achieved by our department over the past academic year.

                                                                                                                                                                       Roger Zoorob, MD,  

At the academic level, the Family Medicine Residency program filled its six                         MPH,FAAFP    

slots in the match, including two students from Meharry Medical College.                        Professor & Chair

The Occupational Medicine Residency program received renewed                  

accreditation for three years and is getting ready to admit a full complement of residents for the first time in the next academic year.  The Preventive Medicine Residency program received full accreditation for five years.  Dr. Ruth Stewart was appointed as the new director of Pre-doctoral Education in January 2007. She already has revamped both the didactic sessions and clinical preceptorships for third year medical students.

In the arenas of research and community health, departmental faculty has been extremely productive in obtaining external and investigator-initiated funding. In 2007-2008, the Department received approximately $5.6 million in new and continuing grant awards. I was successful in securing funding for the HRSA Pre-doctoral Training grant, a Chronic Disease Management grant from the state of Tennessee, and the competitive renewal of the Southeast Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Training Center grant from the CDC. Our Vice Chair, Paul Juarez PhD continues to lead two, five year research grants funded by the CDD: the Nashville Urban Partnership Academic Center of Excellence to Prevent Youth Violence and the Jackson Teen Seat Belt Study. In addition, he led the institution’s effort in submitting a grant to the NCMHD/NIH to establish a Minority Health Disparities Research Center at Meharry. Dr. Sangita Chakrabarty received funding for an occupational medicine training grant. Irwin Goldzweig MS received renewed funding for the Meharry-State Farm Alliance. He also received an award from Ford Foundation to establish a Child Passenger Safety Center at Meharry and a grant from the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration to develop a cultural toolbox to promote motor vehicle safety.

The Division of Community Health also continues to be very productive in grantsmanship that has enabled the department to be a leader in community service and education on intentional and unintentional injury, domestic violence, fetal alcohol syndrome, and chronic disease management. Dr. Juarez was awarded a competitive renewal of the model, statewide Area Health Education Center (AHEC) in partnership with the West TN AHEC, the TN Primary Care Association, (Central TN AHEC) and Cherokee Health Systems (East TN AHEC). In this new award, the Community Health Division is working with our partners to use web-based technology to transmit Family Medicine grand rounds and other continuing medical education programs to community health centers and preceptors offices across the state. Through the Southeast Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Training Center, we have continued to provide continuing education about alcohol exposure prevention to health professionals across the southeast. In addition, our Family Health Centers now operate regular smoking cessation and chronic disease management clinics.

Through the innovation, hard work and achievements of our faculty, staff, and residents, the Department continues to witness steady growth in its clinical activity. Our Family Health Centers have experienced a 33% increase in patient visits over the past year. Through contracts with the Veterans’ Administration, the department now provides Community based Veterans Care at its Family Health Centers and staffs and operates a primary care for clinic for women veterans.

On behalf of our faculty, residents, and staff we are very proud to have the opportunity to share, in greater detail with you through this document, an accounting of our achievements and successes. 

Sincerely Yours,      

Roger Zoorob, MD, MPH

Professor and Frank S. Royal Senior Chair